


The Happiness Bundle

by Letterhead



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Community Center, Crapitalism, Evil Boss, F/M, Focus on Shane, Hurt/Comfort, Shane deals with his issues, Shane is a good uncle, Therapy, farm girl, non named player
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-04-14 11:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14135145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Letterhead/pseuds/Letterhead
Summary: Having heard rumors of the Community Center being fixed up, Morris sends Shane out one night to see if it's true or baloney. What Shane does find changes his life like he never imagined.





	1. Magic Boxes

"Shane!" Morris's forcefully cheerful voice cut through Joja Mart's florescent hum and stopped Shane in the doorway.

"Yes, boss?" Shane gritted out through his teeth. This was the third time this week Morris tried to force him into overtime.

"Good, glad you're not gone yet. I have a little project for you to finish for me..."

 

And that's how Shane ended up at the Community Center after 10 pm.

 

 _'God, this place is a wreck,'_ Shane grumbled to himself as he entered the dimly lit building. The cool autumn air wafted through the cracked windows making the interior feel even colder than the temperature outside. Shane pulled his dingy Joja Mart hoodie tighter around his shoulders as he carefully traversed the broken floorboards and debris. This place was being repaired? He couldn't tell from the entrance, not at all. He tried a light switch near the door a couple times but nothing happened. It seemed Morris was blowing smoke out his ass again, getting paranoid about nothing. Shane could barely see around the entryway, a broken fish tank in one corner, a fireplace, but nothing looked new or fixed, not even disturbed! A little sliver of light caught his eye coming from the right hallway. He trudged through cobwebs and litter as he reached the metal door, light shining from underneath.

"Hello?" Shane called shakily, his voice cracking with unease. He pushed the door open slowly to find a warm but empty boiler room, a hot furnace burning brightly.

"What in the world...?" The floors were refinished and shiny compared to the dusty broken boards in the rest of the building. Photos of the mine and the falls hung on the freshly painted walls. The furnace looked brand spankin’ new.  
Who had done all this? Maybe Morris wasn't paranoid. Out of the corner of his eye, Shane caught sight of something. It dashed out of the room before he could properly see it, so he followed it.

"Hey!" he called out, leaving the boiler room in a hurry. He saw nothing in the dingy entrance until a scurry sounded behind him, leading up to the attic.

"Hey, this isn't funny!" Shane's patience was wearing dangerously thin. His pace slowed as he ascended the rickety stairs, only for him to stop at the top on the landing. Moonlight shone through the old community centers broken clock face to highlight not a person, or an animal, but a peculiar box with a small sign affixed to it.

 

"The Happiness Bundle," Shane read aloud, his voice echoing in the lofted ceiling. As he neared the sign he noticed more text, so he read on.  
"The Happiness Bundle, a bundle to turn your frown upside down and droll life around.  
Required items: 1x JojaMart uniform, 1x JojaMart Manager Badge, 1x Photobooth photo, 1x Bathhouse Soap Bar, 1x receipt for Bouquet, 10x Slimes, and 1x Blue Sea Shell."

"Reward: Happiness and Peace in life."

"What the hell...?" Shane peered into the empty box, a little square space inside for each listed item. Was this a joke? Some joke.

"Damn kids. Isn't funny." Shane turned quickly, a furrow in his brow as he descended the attic stairs. Dust was kicked up under his boots as he finally made his way into the hallway. A creaking sound came from the entrance, startling Shane stock still. He wasn't doing anything bad but he was still technically trespassing. He peered into the entryway and saw a face he never expected. The farm girl approached the shattered fish tank and set a cooler down beside it.

"What is she doing..." Shane whispered to himself. Farm girl opened up the cooler and took a crab and a basket of muscles out, placing them inside the tank.

"She's nuts..!" he thought, watching her put fish after fish into the tank. After the last of her catch was placed deep inside the tank, she closed her cooler and stepped back expectantly. In moments a shimmering light enveloped the tank, blinding Shan. A shrill chirping sound reverberated throughout the walls of the building. His eyes finally adjusted after the chirping died down, and before him the tank looked completely new, bubbling away with a plethora of aquatic life living inside. Dazedly, Shane looked to the farm girl, expecting her to be as shocked as he. She was smiling, but not surprised at all.

 _'Is farm girl the one fixing this place up? How did she do that?_  
_M-magic?_ '

Farm girl wiped her hands on her jeans and left the community center with a satisfied look on her face, meanwhile Shane couldn't move an inch, his eyes glued to the now functioning fish tank in awe.

"I... I need a drink."

________________________________

 

And a drink he had. It was past midnight when Shane finally made it home, quietly creeping through the house to keep from waking Marnie. He kicked off his sneakers and cracked open a can of his emergency beer hidden under his bed. After what he'd endured that evening, he was sure he'd need all six cans.

Shane was halfway through his third before he allowed himself to think about what he'd seen back at the community center. Every time he closed his eyes he could see the farm girl surrounded by a glimmering light, a proud smile on her face as she took in the magically repaired tank.

Magic! That's so ridiculous. Shane kicked back the rest of his beer, wiping the dribble on his sleeve.  
"Impossible!"

On his fifth beer he was finally relaxing. Shane reclined on his futon and allowed himself to think of the possibilities.

"Maybe... maybe she's a witch or something," he thought out loud, sipping on his drink. He thought over the whole night. The fixed boiler room, the magically repaired fish tank, and that strange box in the attic, what did it all mean?  
Shane sat up suddenly, knocking his empty can over in the rush.

"That weird box! What if she was doing a... What was it called? A bundle?" His drink-addled mind had finally struck gold. Maybe the building had those boxes all over, and she was just adding the items they requested? He laid back down, a fog lifting from him. He'd figured it out. Magic boxes!

 

In the morning he didn't feel so certain though. He had burned through his emergency stash of beer and had one hell of a hangover; the previous night seeming like nothing more than a bad dream. Shane bumbled his way to the kitchen for a large cup of black coffee before he had to run to JojaMart. He nearly collided with his aunt when he reached the kitchen, his socks slipping a little on the tile floor.

"Shane, you're up!" His aunt was chipper but suspicious. She took in his bloodshot eyes, disheveled appearance and his awful odor.

"Oh, Shane... Did something happen?" Her hand extended, probably to offer some sort of comfort, but he was hungover and sleepy and needed caffeine, so he sidestepped Marnie and headed past her.

"I'm fine, just worked late," Shane grumbled, pouring a huge mug of black coffee and nursing it pathetically.  
Marnie followed him in to finish cooking the pancakes with a frown.  
"That Morris is a slave driver, Shane. How can you stand it?" Her voice sounded pleading, and Shane could imagine just under the surface was another argument about him leaving JojaMart ready to burst, but he wasn't going to hash it out today with the headache he was having.

"Yeah, he's a troll. I've got to get dressed get going though. Tell Jas I said hi when she gets up." Shane quickly ran back up the stairs with his coffee, emptying his cup before he even reached the door to his bedroom. He could already tell today was going to be a long day.

 

________________________________

 

After said long day was near its close, Shane sat alone at a back booth in the Stardrop Saloon drinking his usual. Although it was a warm autumn night the damn fireplace was lit and warming his back uncomfortably. Knocking back his fourth beer, he looked up from under his shaggy black hair to see the farm girl enter, delighting every patron with her smiles and gifts. He enjoyed people watching, it was a nice switch from judging cans of soup at Joja Mart to judging people. As she smiled and chatted in the other corner with Emily he couldn't help but remember her cool confident demeanor the previous evening. Was she really there that night, or had he hit his head and hallucinated? Either way, he was determined to keep her in his peripheral. Just as he was thinking this, the farm girl turned her bright eyes on him. He gulped down a mouthful of beer painfully as she made her way over to his booth, sliding in and smiling.

"Hi, Shane," she greeted him. He felt like he'd just swallowed his tongue. Hadn't his shitty attitude killed her desire to befriend him yet?

"You need something, farm girl?" He muttered, swigging his bear to avoid making eye contact.

"Just some conversation," she suggested chipperly sipping a glass of wine. He groaned.

"Then go talk to Emily, or look, there's Leah." He pointed a finger in Leah's direction. Anything to make her go away.

"I talked to them, now I wanna talk to you," she smirked, playing with the rim of her glass. Shane looked at her finally, her hair tucked behind her ears, overalls a bit dirty, but it was obvious she was a city girl. She sure didn't act like she was sitting in a saloon in a podunk town.  
A grim smile spread across his lips as he figured out what to say.

"So farm girl, I heard the Town Center is being fixed by a mysterious benefactor. Wonder who it is." He stared at her hard, watching for any sign of recognition. She gulped her wine, squirming a little in her chair.

"Huh, hadn't heard that," she replied offhandedly. Suspiciously to Shane.  
"Wow, that's odd. Yeah, Morris even had me go over there to see if the rumors were true," easily lead on, watching the farm girls eyes widen before attempting to collect herself.

"Really? Find anything?" Her tone was casual, though he could see her side eyeing him intently.

"No, not really," Shane assured, smirking to himself as she almost imperceptibly sighed.  
He wouldn't let her go that easy.  
"So... enjoy crabbing lately?" he continued his barrage of questions. Farm girl nearly spewed out her mouthful of wine, sputtering and collecting herself. She gave Shane a shrewd look before shaking her head.

"Sure. I love the beach. Hey, that reminds me..." she ducked down, rooting through her backpack she always toted around with her before pulling something blue and iridescent.

"Look at this cool shell I found there recently!" She held it out for Shane to see. It was very beautiful, shining in the low light of the saloon and striped with a rainbow of color deep within its outer blue layer.

"Wow." Shane marveled. He looked up, taking in her features. She was very expressive and had kind of a cute face. He thought so the night they drank on the dock, and he thought so today. He couldn't deny it.  
She smiled at him. Placing it in front of him and standing.  
"Keep it, I've got to run. Animals don't feed themselves," she chuckled. Shane looked down at the shell, then back to her awkwardly.  
"Wait, I can't take this," he started to protest but the farm girl shook her head and interrupted him.  
"I want you to have it. Thanks for the conversation." She left him with a wink before walking out into the brisk night.

Shane sighed, taking the smooth she'll unto his hand and running his finger over the lines over color. He didn't know why that farm girl was so determined to be friendly to him.

That's when it hit him. He had a shell, and what did the box want? A shell! He was pretty buzzed but it seemed like a good idea, so he tossed down cash for his beers and walked out of the Saloon and towards the old Community Center.

Standing above the small painted box, Shane now felt stupid and far less intoxicated.  
"This is stupid, I'm stupid." He hovered over the box a second longer before turning back towards the attic stairs. He hesitated, the image of the farm girl surrounded by magic bombarding his memory. He sighed, resigned Shane turned back quickly towards the box and fishing the shell out of his pocket scowled.  
"If this doesn't work I'm going to drink my emergency bottle of rum."

He dropped the shell into the perfectly shaped box for it nervously. Expectantly, and nothing happened.

"Of course, nothing happened..." he grumbled, before a swirling light dazzled his eyes, that chirping sound piercing his eardrums again. His hands reached up to rub the light from his eyes, and finally after a moment he could see. Where once there was a cubby filled with a shell, there was instead a photograph, or a painting - Shane wasn't sure - of the farm girl wearing a sun hat, standing among the sand and seagrass picking the exact shell he placed in the box up. He rubbed his eyes again for good measure but the painting didn't go away. His hands clenched reflexively, and in one he felt the crunch of paper. Slowly he examined the contents of his closed fist. A tiny note, hastily scrawled in ink stated-

"Thank you and good job!!~~ Keep going!!"

Shane dropped the note, screaming and running down the stairs and out of the community center for the second time.

It was only when he was back in his bedroom and gasping for breath that he realized what had just happened.

"That... that freaking worked," he panted. The realization dawning on him that if the bundles were indeed real, was the promise of happiness real too?  
He had to find out.


	2. Magic Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane takes his niece Jas to the city only to discover the farm girl is also on her way. Will he find another item for his Happiness Bundle?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Stardew Valley, all credit goes to ConcernedApe. Please enjoy ~

"Are you sure you don't need anything from Zuzu City?" Shane prodded his aunt as he slung his messenger bag over one shoulder. Next to him Jas was hopping impatiently, a quiet muttered mantra of "come on!" coming from her lips. Shane looked down at her with a smirk, she was wearing her little backpack and a princess dress and looked excited. He had promised to take her to the arcade after her doctors appointment so she would agree to go. 

Marnie came out of the kitchen, a couple bagged sandwiches in one hand and a few hundred G in the other. Shane cringed. 

"Marnie, I don't need cash..." he muttered. Marnie clucked her tongue, smiling to Shane as she slowly handed Jas the cash instead. Jas squeaked with delight, hurriedly shoving it in wads into her themed coin purse. 

"It's not for you, it's for my favorite Jas. Don't spend it all on one game, ok?" Marnie said to Jas who barely nodded in recognition as she marveled at how full her coin purse was. 

"Here." Marnie handed the sandwiches over to Shane. "Just in case you get hungry on the bus. Have a safe trip." She patted Shane on the shoulder kindly, leading them out to the front porch. Jas pulled Shane's hand hard, leading him all the way to the Zuzu City bus stop. He couldn't help but laugh at her antics, if he'd known she was so easily swayed by a promise of gaming he would have let her play  his system at home. 

"Jas, we're not in a rush." He chided as his niece zipped through the bus towards the back seats. They sat next to each other on the bench, nearly the only people on board. Jas vibrated impatiently. 

"Come oooooonnnnn!" She whined, checking her princess watch as if she knew what time the bus was supposed to leave. 

"We will be departing shortly, Jas." Called the friendly bus driver from the front. They had gotten to know him a little in the past few months with their frequent trips up to the city. A minute before the bus was set to depart someone was running towards the rapidly closing doors waving their arms. Shane squinted, taking stock of the woman's jean shorts, her hair flying behind her. 

"Farm girl?" He whispered out, and was answered as she boarded with a heaving breath. She braced a hand on one of the railings and cast a sunny smile on the bus driver. 

"Sorry, didn't mean to hold you up sir." She apologized, paying the correct fare then turning to find a seat. Jas had become still and quiet beside him as she normally did when strangers were in the vicinity, so he patted her shoulder reassuringly. The farm girl spotted them in the back and waved, coming to sit in the row just before them. She turned towards the pair with a blinding smile. 

"Hi Shane, hi Jas. Going to the city?" She asked kindly, setting her backback down beside her. Shane scoffed. 

"Obviously, this is the bus for the city." He replied sarcastically. She blushed mildly before turning towards Jas and making eye contact with her. 

"Have you been to the city before?" Farm girl addressed Jas, and Shane watched fascinated as Jas for the first time ever responded to a stranger without prompting from him. 

"Yeah." She nodded shyly. The farm girl brushed a bit of hair behind her ear and continued.

"I like your princess watch." She complimented his niece, who beamed back at the farm girl immediately. As if flipping a switch, Jas began to chatter like mad to the farm girl for almost the entire hour and a half trip to the city, barely pausing to breathe and eat her egg salad sandwich. The farm girl humored her gently, speaking in a friendly and genuine manner that made Shane's heart stutter. 

When was the last time someone in he village spoke to Jas like this? Almost never. Everyone's interactions with his niece were always laced with pity for her loss or derision. She was orphaned by her mother and abandoned by her father. People didn't know how to act around a kid like that and Shane couldn't stand it, it always made Jas even more shy than she normally was. The girl wasn't stupid, she noticed how people acted around her. How was it that the farm girl was so good at pushing past all the awkwardness everyone else seemed to be afflicted with? 

"So..." the farm girl looked at Shane. "What are you going to Zuzu city for?" She inquired. Shane froze, looking at Jas then back to the farm girl. He didn't want to explain, didn't want to taint this moment Jas was having by exposing their family problems. Jas's little voice cut through this reverie. 

"I'm going to see my ther-uhhh... my talking doctor." Jas said plainly, stumbling over her words a little as she finished her sandwich. The farm girl nodded politely.

"Oh I see." She replied, a little confused but obviously tying not to be rude. Jas deposited her crust onto Shane's lap and wiped her fingers on his sleeve as he watched the emotions play over the farm girls face. 

"Yeah, I talk to her about my moms car crash." Jas blurted out as only a seven year old could. All the air in the bus suddenly left and Shane wondered why he couldn't breathe as he watched realization dawn on the farm girl. She quickly glanced at Shane, her face forlorne. Would she treat Jaz differently now that she knew? He didn't want another adult in Jas' life to pit her. The farm girl nodded slowly, looking back to Jas. 

"Is talking to her making you feel better?" She asked gently, her eyes full of sorrow. Jas nodded distractedly, looking over her money for the dozenth time. 

"That's good then. When my dad died I went to a talking doctor and it helped me feel better too." The farm girl smiled sadly, and Jas perked up with curiosity. 

"Your... dad died?" She asked tentatively, almost as if she didn't realize other people's parents could die too. The farm girl nodded. 

"Oh. I'm sorry he died." Jas apologized sweetly, causing Shane's heart to ache. The farm girl stood up and squished next to Jas on the bench seat and put her arm around his niece's shoulders. 

"Me too. And I'm sorry your mom died." The farm girl commiserated, looking down at Jas with a comforting gaze. Jas smiled up at her then twisted her watch around her wrist to check the time.

"Me too. Wanna go to the arcade with us in the city? Uncle Shane said he'd take me. Maybe he could take you too." She asked, pulling on the farm girls sleeve. The emotions Shane felt burst, his heart filling with reassurance as he looked at the farm girl. Jas was animatedly explaining how amazing the Zuzu City arcade was, and the farm girl was listening patiently. No one had ever spoken to Jas plainly about what had happened with his sister. He felt ashamed then, because neither had he. He kicked himself for his lack of care and looked back onto the farm girl with admiration. 

"I would love to, if it's ok with uncle Shane of course." Farm girl looked up at him with a small twist of her lips he could only describe as sweet. Jas was now pushing his arm as she whined "pleaseeeeee?". His gut instinct was to say no in case it didn't work out. He couldn't say no to Jas though. 

"Of course." He mirrored the farm girl to both girls delights. 

"You must have plans in the city though, right farmer?" He asked. 

"I do, but just a few errands. Here." She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and showed it to him. "Here, put your contact info in and I'll put my info in yours. That was you can call me when you want to meet up." He nodded dazedly in reply, never imagining he would get her number out of this. They exchanged numbers just as the bus pulled up to the station. 

"Can't wait! See you then Jas!" The farm girl called happily, leaving the bus before them. Jas was already pulling him off the bus and towards the doctors office, but his heart was being pulled in the direction of the farm girl. 

 

 

 

Sometime later Shane sat in the stuffy office of the therapist, Doctor Jeanna Muzaki. He idly picked the fuzz of his Joja Mart hoodie as the doctor shuffled papers into a file folder. Jas was in the other room, playing with dolls in the kid play area. 

"So." The doctor began.

 _'Here goes another lecture.'_ Shane thought glumly. 

"Jas seems to be improving." She smiled approvingly to Shane's utter surprise. 

"Uh... really? I mean definitely." He stuttered out, causing the doctor to laugh. 

"No need to be modest, it's obvious you've taken my notes and been working hard with her. She's much more outgoing than the last time I saw her, and she openly spoke of her mothers death when I asked during today's session." 

Shane felt releaved in a way he never knew he could, an invisible burden lifting off his back as he realized Jas could grow up happy even though all this heartache. 

"Honestly, that's such great news doc." Shane replied, a tick of a smile on his unshaven face. 

"It's going to be a long process, so let's discuss what we can do to maximize her recovery process..." 

They spoke at length about Jas, about grief and recovery. Finally, they spoke about him. Usually when the doctor hinted he may also need therapy he would bristle, but today he was open to hearing her words.

"Jas needs a solid support structure, and it looks like you and your aunt are doing a good job. Just remember to care for yourself so you can care for her as well. Can you do that?" Doctor Muzaki asked. Her stern voice uat this point would have made him feel like a scolded school boy, but instead he agreed. He did need to work on dealing with his emotions. 

"Yeah doc, I can." 

 

________________

 

 

The blaring sounds and colorful strobing lights of the arcade lit up the dusky evening sky calling to all walking past it to come in and have an evening of fun. Jas was impatiently jumping up and down, swinging the skirt of her princess dress around her. Shane stood like a statue, Jas' hand in his as the other clutched his cellphone tightly. He had recieved a text from the farm girl saying she was on her way but... what if she didn't show? He was nervous, he shook his head trying to dislodge his fears. She would show. Reguardless of how the farm girl felt towards him she clearly cared for Jas and he knew the farmgirl was too good a person to let a little kid down. He pictured her for the thousandth time that day, half hugging his niece in her arms as she allowed the little girl to open up for seemingly the first time. Even if they never became friends, he could never hate her. Not after that moment. She would always have a special place in his heart now. 

As if summoned by his thoughts the farm girl came weaving out of a nearby crowd waving excitedly towards them. Jas saw her and started tugging him forward but his feet were rooted to the spot. He was gazing at the farm girl, the world around him disappearing, eyes locked onto her face. Her face was highlighted by the colorful neons of the arcade sign, eyes illuminated by a streak of electric blue. She was glowing, not from the lights but from an inner joy that radiated out from her like magic. He finally realized what it meant to smile with your eyes as he watched the sides of hers crinkle in pleasure as Jas excitedly grabbed her in a hug. The farm girl kneeled down to reciprocate, looking up at him from over Jas's shoulder. He couldn't help but smile back. 

"Hey Shane!" She said cheerfully, standing and taking hold of Jas's hand. He grasped Jas's other hand and they both lifted her off the ground playfully. 

"Glad I found you two." She giggled a little as Jas swung between them. 

"Miss me?" He asked the farm girl sarcastically, almost off handedly as he was more focused on what she was doing rather than what he was saying. 

"Definitely." She winked playfully, causing Shane to blush. 

 _'Thank Yoba it's dark out.'_ He mused, hoping she didn't see his reaction. Jas stopped swinging on their arms and dragged both adults into the arcade. The cacophony of playing patrons and loud games was almost deafening inside, Shane quickly paid for a bag of tokens with his last G and gave almost all of them to Jas. She took them in her hands reverently, then out of the corner of her eye spotted a crane game with cute apple plushies inside and squealed her delight. Jas ran over and deposited her token inside, spending countless minutes attempting but failing to fish an apple plushie from the machine to no avail. When Shane tried to offer assistance she pushed him away. 

"Don't bother me, I'm working!" She yelled snottily in a way so reminiscent of his sister he couldn't help but find it adorable. The farm girl laughed as well, turning to him. 

"Let's go play something while Jas works on the crane game, shall we?" She cheekily linked arms with him and the began walking around the arcade, stopping to play a game here or here. Shane's world was blurring although he hadn't a drink of alcohol at all that day. He couldn't believe he was having fun, playing around like a kid with Pelican Town's newsest farmer. They were laughing together, he couldn't remember the last time he smiled his much. He was currently failing at Whack-a-Mole as the farm girl giggled at him. After the game ended and he won no tickets, he leaned against the machine and offered her a try. As she played, he considered what to say. Finally the right words came to him. 

"Thank you. For earlier with Jas. She doesn't usually talk about what happened." He said honestly, rubbing the back of his neck. The farm girl smacked a mole down into the machine then gave him a side glance. 

"You don't need to thank me, Shane. I was just like Jas when I was a kid. I understand what it's like to be a kid who's lost a parent. But how about you? Are you doing alright?" She asked him earnestly, her concern coming off as thoughtful instead of fake. 

"I'm holding up. I think taking care of Jaz has helped me not focus so hard on it all. I..." he stuttered, feeling his heart begin to pour out onto the floor helplessly. "I miss her." His whispered words were swollowed by the noise of the arcade but the farm girl heard him. She finished her game in a hurry and set the mallet aside, moving close to him. 

"I know." She wrapped her arms around his midsection, holding him close for a brief moment. Her breath ticked his neck and he shivered. Shane held his hands a few inches from her back, unsure if he should deepen the hug or push her away. She was... 

"Um, look at all the tickets you won." He cleared his throat and stepped back from her embrace, grabbing the long line of tickets from the machine. She smiled ruefully taking them from him. She held them out in front of her like a prized fish and he smiled warmly, his scruffy face never looking as handsome as it did right then. 

"You're a regular Whack-a-Mold champ, farm girl." He laughed. "Want to play another game?" She looked around briefly before spotting a booth in the back. 

"Hey, lets go get Jas and take some photos in the photo booth over there!" Farm girl suggested excitedly, turning towards the crane machines and dragging her many tickets behind her. He chased behind and they found his niece standing by the same machine now surrounded by dozens of apple plushies in all colors. She was still playing, fishing another apple out of the nearly empty machine. His eyes bugged out as he stepped over a pile of plushies to get to her.

"Jas, how in the world?!" He asked, completely bewildered. She turned to him. 

"I got good, aunt Marnie said she wanted to make apple pie but didn't have any apples." Jas deadpanned. The farm girl busted up laughing, smacking her knee and he felt himself begin to laugh as well. He couldn't help but snicker as he watched Jas slowly begin to collect the apples, next to her the farm girl was coming to tears from her from the absurdity. The farm girl finally collected herself, wiping a tear and looking down at Jas. 

"You're amazing, Jas. Let's go get a bag for these and then we can all take a photo booth picture together." Jas agreed easily, so they snagged an employee to bag her haul of apples. They skipped over to the photo booth Shane walking slower behind them with a bemused expression on his face. Jas slid into the booth, then the farmer. She sat at the edge waiting for him, smiling wickedly. 

"Come on, Shane." She grabbed his hand, pulling him into the booth. The three of them squished together tightly. Her whole side was pressed against his chest as Jas slid onto their laps as to take center stage for the camera. Farm girl leaned her face close to his, lips whispering.

"Smile." She said quietly, and he did. 

He flash went off brightly, nearly blinding him as they posed. Well, mostly the girls posed as he sat there being crushed by the weight of their bodies as they formed his happiest memory to date. They all but fell out of the booth giggling and smiling when it was done, Jas dragging a large plastic bag full of her apple plushies behind her slowly as she began to tire. The farm girl grabbed the printed photos and they headed out as a group to the bus station to return home. 

 

They boarded the bus, Jas attempting to chatter about the arcade but quickly falling asleep half in both their laps. Shane and the farm girl barely spoke, but a companionable silence filled the space between them that he so wished he could cross.

Far too quickly they reached Pelican Town and exited the bus, the two of the idling by the bench nearby as Shane held Jas in his arms. 

"I had so much fun today with you both, Shane. I'm glad we went together." The farm girl smiled faintly, placing a hand on his arm familiarly. A low current of electricity shot from her fingertips through his body, and he couldn't stop looking at her lips. If he wasn't hoisting his sleeping niece in his arms he would have considered kissing the farm girl, but he reasoned that even then he wouldn't have the guts to do it. 

"Uh... me too." He mumbled his reply, looking away with a blush. Farm girl slid out the photos from her pocket and handed him the second copy. 

"Here, something to remember the day by. I've got to head home but... maybe I could stop by the ranch and visit you all?" She asked almost shyly, looking at him from under her lashes. He gulped, nodding quickly and accepting the photos from her. 

"Jas would love that, Marnie too. And... and I would... like to see you again. Outside the saloon, I mean." Nearly stuttering, Shane kicked himself internally. Idiotic, he sounded idiotic. Farm girl shivered in the cold evening air and took a step away. 

"Goodnight Shane." She said sweetly, leaning in quickly to peck him on the cheek before she turned and walked towards her property line. Shane sighed wistfully, hoisting Jas over one shoulder so he could drag her and her spoils back to the ranch. 

 

Later, Shane lay on top of his quilt staring at the photos from the arcade. In one of the panels he looked moronic, cheeks red and eyes locked to the farm girl as she posed. She looked lovely, smiling and happy as she made faces with Jas. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so good, so alive and in the moment. It was all thanks to her company. 

"One photo booth photo." He murmured sleepily, brain blanking then suddenly he sat up wide awake as it dawned on him. 

"One photo booth photo!" Shane said excitedly, jumping out of bed and slipping his shoes on. He raced down to the Community Center and up the rickety ladder to the moonlit attic. There, sitting just as he left it was the Happiness Bundle, a little cubby inside waiting for him to deposit the photos. Shane signed sadly, he didn't want to lose the photos from today, but perhaps he could convince the farm girl to let him make copies of hers. He dropped the photos into the box, waiting. A flash of light and the chirping sounds signaled he had done right. When the effect faded he saw in their place a painting of himself and the farm girl each swinging Jas between them. He was smiling widely and looked happier than he'd ever seen himself, but what caught his attention was the way farm girl was looking at him. She was looking at him with a wistful, almost caring expression. A crinkle from Shane's hand distracted him and he opened his palm to find another note. It read -

 

"Thank you!!~~~ keep em coming!!" 

He ran his fingers through his dark hair as he let out a deep breath, eyes darting off to the sign above the bundle. "The Happiness Bundle." He whispered. Shane quickly fished out a pen from his pocket and scrawled the rest of the required items for the bundle on the back of the note like a strange magical shopping list. No matter how crazy, no matter what he had to do he was going to finish the bundle. He would finish it if it meant he could feel like he did today all the time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me to long to update this, but I plan to update all my stories more regularly now that my international move has finally finished.  
> Please leave a comment with your thoughts :)


	3. Magic Absolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane spends quality time with his family, and opens up for the first time about the accident.

Shane stood nearly hunched over as he stocked Joja Mart. Can after can of Joja Cola was placed neatly on the white shelves, their labels all facing outward to ‘entice’ the customers, which Morris claimed was a corporate policy. His back ached from lifting, his thumb had a blister from holding the box cutter for so long, and he’d been inside the store for so long he’d almost forgotten what the sun felt like on his cold skin. And boy, was he cold. His skin was covered in gooseflesh even under his well-worn Joja Mart hoodie as the AC was cranked so high it felt almost arctic. Another corporate policy, Morris claimed. Shane thought otherwise, as the AC’s weren’t kept this cold until the hoodie uniform debacle last summer. Regardless, here he was. Wearing an itchy, tattered hoodie that he practically lived in, stocking the shelves of a store half the town hated. He heard a clatter from behind him and winced.  
  
“Great,” he muttered. Another shelf to re-stock. He turned and spotted the backside of a female patron on her knees picking up cans of black beans from the floor. He wished he could let her clean up after herself, but yet again it was corporate policy to never let customers clean up after themselves. He jogged over to the fallen display and began picking up cans.  
  
“I can clean this, miss,” he said lowly, trying not to make eye contact. It didn’t work, his eyes strayed up to meet a familiar pair, worried and bright. The farm girl was hastily righting cans and smiling awkwardly at him.  
  
“I’m sorry, Shane. I don’t mean to make more work for you. My bag caught on the display.” She looked embarrassed, continuing to place cans up on the display table. “I… actually came to see you,” farm girl admitted in a hushed tone, her words lifting his spirits. He didn’t care if she destroyed the whole damn store, if she wanted to see him in the middle of the day then… well that was just great.  
Behind them at the front of the isle Morris popped his head out. “Everything dandy, Shane?” he called, a vein in his forehead nearly popping as he watched a customer pick up cans from the floor. Shane’s blood ran cold, he could get in serious trouble if he didn’t tell the farm girl to bug off.  
“Stop helping me,” he groused out quietly, causing the farm girl to stop short with shock at his tone. “Stand up and look at some other product... please,” he begged, nodding his head in the direction of the Joja Cola. She nodded shakily and went over to the shelves, feigning interest in the Blu variety.  
  
“Don’t worry miss, I’ll clean this up in a jiffy,” he assured her in a much louder voice than necessary. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Morris nodded in pleasure then skipped away, probably to bother the cashier lady. He sighed in relief and turned to the farm girl, who was shakily holding a can of Joja Cola in her hand.  
  
“Hey, farm girl,” he whispered, grabbing her attention. She whipped around to face him, eyes wide.  
  
“Sorry ‘bout that. My manager was watching and we’re not aloud to let customers clean up the products,” he explained ruefully. Farm girl nodded in understanding, putting the cola back on the shelf.  
  
“Oh shoot, sorry Shane.” She grabbed her bag and held it to her chest, obviously ashamed. Shane stood, wiping his hands off on his work pants.  
  
“Don’t trouble yourself over it, farm girl. Not your fault. So, what did you want to see me about?” he inquired, continuing to stock the shelves slowly as he listened.  
  
“Well to be honest, I wanted to come say hi. I hadn’t seen you since the weekend, and I’d been to the saloon every evening,” farm girl admitted. He felt warm inside his chest thinking that she went to all the trouble of waiting for him each night, and that she’d go out of her way to come to Joja Mart of all places.  
  
“Yeah I haven’t been drinking as much as of late…” he admitted a little sheepishly, letting her in on his newest secret. “Just been thinking about saving some money, and not drinking too much on the week nights. I’ll be back in the saloon, probably nightly even, but I may skip having that third beer.” He chuckled. The farm girls’ eyes lit up prettily as she smiled, nudging him with her hip.  
  
“Good for you, Shane! So, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if I brought over a bottle of my homemade wine some night? To Marnie’s, I mean,” she suggested, eyes cast down sheepishly.  
  
“Not a bad thing at all, farm girl. Jas hasn’t stopped talking about you since we saw you last, and I would love to try your homemade wine,” Shane assured, a giddy feeling spreading from his chest. He hadn’t had someone specifically want to spend time with him in a long time, and it felt good to be cared about. Even if farm girl thought of him as being squarely in friend territory, it was still more than he would have ever asked for. She was cutely smiling to herself over his words, he couldn’t help himself but continue.  
  
“I’m sure anything you make at the farm is great, farm girl. Why… why don’t you bring the wine over tonight for dinner?” He nervously realized too late that he would have to ask Marnie about it. Farm girl looked up at him excitedly, casting his doubts aside.  
  
“Sounds like a plan, Shane!” She smiled. Her smile was broken as a shiver wracked her frame, gooseflesh appearing on her neck. Shane shook his head, looking back to the merchandise he was meant to be moving. No point in gawking at her like a weirdo.  
  
“Better head out, it’s stupidly cold in here. How about you come to the ranch at seven?” Shane said as he began stocking shelves again. The farm girl nodded happily, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to warm herself up.  
  
“Good idea. I’ll see you later.” She departed the store with a wave, walking out of the automatic doors with a skip to her step. Before Shane could breathe, Morris rounded the shelf and scowled.  
  
“Shane! She left without buying anything! Explain yourself, or so help me…” Morris threatened nastily, his voice barely above a whisper. Shane rolled his eyes, turning to his manager.  
  
“She was one of those anti-Joja people, boss. I politely told her I loved my job, and she left without another word,” he assured seriously, hoping his tone was convincing enough to fool Morris. Morris nodded thoughtfully, his scowl slowly disappearing.  
  
“Good, good. Those country bumpkins need to realize Joja is the future,” Morris said menacingly. “Anyway, back to work slacker!” He jovially skipped away to harass the cashier.

Shane sighed in relief, and went back to his work. He would have to seriously book it home after his shift if he wanted to inform Aunt Marnie about their unexpected guest for dinner, shower, and clean his room. He shook his head with a quiet chuckle, he was practically bending over backwards for the farm girl. He wouldn’t clean his room for just anyone.  
  
  
__________________________  
  
  
  
  
Shane was panicking.  
  
“Marnie, where is my black shirt?” he called down the stairs as he ran around the upper floor, still only wearing a bath towel. His hair was dripping little drops of water onto the carpet as he frantically searched for his nice black long sleeve shirt. It wasn’t fashionable, or formal, but it wasn’t stained, or torn, or Joja-Mart related so he needed to find it. His room was clean… looking. Nearly everything that had littered the floors had been shoved either under his bed or in his closet. He was nearly beside himself with the thought that the shirt was shoved in one of those places. Shane, frustrated and distracted, tossed his towel across the room into the hamper and put on some boxer briefs. His only clean pair of jeans were lying on the ‘made’ bed, made meaning the sheets were fully on the bed and not overtly dirty. He was pulling said clean denims on as a knock on the door startled him. He grumbled under his breath as he stomped over, Marnie better have his shirt. Shane threw the door open and a squeal from the other side of the threshold told him it was definitely not his aunt who was waiting for him.  
  
Within reach stood a tomato-red-faced farm girl, hair up and looking lovely, eyes wide as she looked over Shane’s exposed chest. He smirked at her scandalized expression before feeling deeply self-conscious, his smile dropping into a horrified frown. He spun around before he could tell the farm girls reaction to seeing him, but he didn’t want to know.  
  
“Uh.” He stuttered, feeling exposed. "Didn't know you were a perv, farm girl." He deflected sarcastically, hoping to Yoba she wasn't still looking at him.  
  
“Oh my Yoba, I’m sorry Shane! Marnie said I should bring you… this…” she trailed off, and he felt cotton fabric brush against his arm. He turned back slightly, seeing his nice black shirt clutched in her small hand and he couldn’t help but scowl.  
  
_‘Marnie… that match-making, nosy, inappropriate woman…’_ Shane seethed internally. He took the shirt from the farm girl, making quick work of sliding it on. Behind him, the farm girl watched through her lashes as Shane dressed. She pressed a hand to her cheeks to cover her blush and to calm herself down. When Shane finally turned fully to look at the farm girl she looked a little red, but she wasn’t looking at him. He sighed in relief as he realized she was perusing his collection of games all lined up on a shelf by the door.  
  
“You play many video games?” He asked awkwardly, still tugging his shirt down. The farm girl smiled, then shook her head.  
  
“Not many, but the ones I do play I probably spend hundreds of hours on.” She laughed, causing him to chuckle as well.  
  
“I understand that feeling. When a game’s good, you just can’t put it down. Uh listen…” Shane caught her attention, and she waited for him to finish his statement. Before he could muster up his voice she gasped, walking into his room to gaze as a group of photos of him sitting on his dresser. He groaned as he realized what photos they were. It was the collage of his past life.  
  
Farm girl pointed at the collage, eyes sparkling.  
  
“Wow Shane! You played grid ball, did martial arts, and… what sport is that?” she asked excitedly. Shane sighed, her enthusiasm making his mood worsen. He hated this collage of photos, his past victories and specialties. It always made him feel sour after coming home from a day at work, his bones aching and muscles wilting like a weak loser.  
  
“It’s lacrosse,” Shane admitted, face twisting into what he hoped was an impassive expression. Farm girl turned to him, expression searching.  
  
“Do you… not play any longer?” she asked, her tone beginning to shift as she realized the answer to her question was probably a no. He simply shook his head in response. Farm girl, as he was realizing, didn’t know when to leave well enough alone. Before she could continue asking, he cleared his throat.  
  
“Let’s… let’s go find Jas. She’s probably in her room," he suggested lamely, obviously attempting to steer the conversation away from his former glory days. She smiled understandingly and followed him out of his bedroom.  
  
_‘Great job, Shane. First time you’ve gotten a girl you like in your bedroom and you freak her out with a flab show,'_ he cringed internally, steering them downstairs towards his niece’s room. As he predicted, Jas was sitting amidst her princess dolls, bears, and his old G.I. Joe toys looking like a mini queen directing her subjects. He shook off his bad mood and called into the room.  
  
“Jas, someone’s here to see you.”  
  
Her head perked up and before he could get out of the way she squealed and ran for the farm girl.  
  
“You came, you came!” Jas nearly threw herself into the farm girl’s arms, who gracefully picked the little girl up in and listened patiently to her prattle.  
  
“You look nice, do you like my dress? Have you seen my bear, and my army man Dave, and his wife Princess Sophia? And look, see those earrings? They clip on! And we’re having pot roast, and Uncle Shane loves pot roast. I like pot pie, but pot roast is fine.” She ranted gleefully as the farm girl carried her into the dining room, Shane smirking as he followed them. Jas was only ever like this with the farm girl and he knew he should thank her, but for what he wasn’t sure. For being friendly? You can’t really thank someone for hitting it off with your kid, even if you want to. Either way he was happy Jas liked the farm girl, and was even happier that the farm girl seemed to like Jas just as much.  
  
Marnie was already done setting the table by the time they all sat down. His aunt gave him a sly grin as she looked at his shirt which annoyed him briefly, but he couldn’t stay mad at her for long as she lifted the lid on the pot roast. It was still steaming and smelled amazing. The farm girl was just sliding into her chair after situating Jas. On the table in front of her was a couple bottles of hand-labelled wine.  
  
“Is this the famous farm girl wine?” he joked, picking up a bottle. He looked over the label, neatly written in a curly handwriting. ‘Nectarine and plum wine’. His aunt began serving plates, all the while watching them with a glint in her eye he didn’t appreciate.  
  
“That sounds lovely, farmer. I bet it’ll pair nicely with dinner,” Marnie complimented, causing the farmer to blush.  
  
“Shane, why don’t you pour?” the farm girl requested, and he quickly popped the cork and began pouring glasses for the adults. Jas pounded a tiny fist on the table cloth angrily.  
  
“Me too! I want wine too! I’m not a kid anymore!” She pouted, nearly knocking a salt shaker over to grab the bottle. Shane snatched it away from her, just about to scold her when the farm girl popped the cork on the second bottle.  
  
“Actually Jas, that wine is for old people. This wine I made special for princesses, like you.” She poured some of the second bottle’s contents into an empty cup and looked over at Jas.  
  
“But you have to ask politely before I give it to you.”  
  
Jas’s eyes widened and she immediately straightened in her chair, hands in her lap.

  
“Please can I… may I have a cup of princess wine, pleaaaasssseeee?” She ended on an almost whine, but it satisfied the farm girl as she passed the cup over to Jas.  
  
“Here Shane, it’s nonalcoholic. I figured Jas would feel left out,” the farm girl assured him as she handed him the bottle. Sure enough it was a not fermented version of the farm girls specialty fruit wine, tasting of delicious fresh fruit juice. Jas happily sipped her cup, pretending it was a wine glass and swirling the deep orange liquid around and around.

“What a considerate gesture, don’t you think so Shane?” his aunt pressed, smiling around a bite of braised meat. He shook his head with a grin, his aunt was about as subtle as an old car horn.  
  
“It was nice of you farm girl,” he responded evenly, though internally he was having a great time. Dinner was… unexpectedly comforting. It felt like the dinners his family used to have when he was in middle school, everyone gathering around the big table to eat and be together. Marnie, Jas, and the farm girl were chatting and laughing like that’s exactly what they were, a family. The farm girl always tried to pull him into whatever they were talking about but he was more content to silently sip his delicious wine and enjoy the normalness of the evening. By the time Jas was yawning he knew it was over. Marnie quickly picked up the girl and excused them for bedtime. Shane walked the farm girl out into the chilly fall night, prepared to send her off to her farm. Before he could say his good nights, she looked up at him with a grin and pointed to the dock.  
  
“There’s still half a bottle of wine left. Come on, Shane,” she cajoled him, capturing his hand and dragging him towards the dock like an impish child. He followed her, sitting next to her at the edge. The farm girl took a swig of wine before passing it to him, and he downed most of it before realizing his bad manners. The awkward silence was stretching, but with each passing second it was becoming less weird and more… nice. Comfortable. His buzzed brain needed to fill the void, however.  
  
“Buh… life…” he rattled, cringing at his own voice. Farm girl chuckled, taking the bottle back and sipping. She took her shoes off and dipped her feet into the cold water.  
  
“Life…” she agreed, almost jokingly. More silence, only the sound of the crickets and her feet gently splashing through the water.  
  
“Why?” She continued her line of questioning from earlier seemingly from nowhere. “Why aren’t you doing sports anymore? You were holding an award in one of the pictures.” Her curiosity was burning, Shane was a talented guy who seemingly gave up everything. She couldn’t understand it.  
  
Shane wanted to run away. Wanted to apologize for being so flabby, for exposing her to the evidence of his failure earlier in his bedroom. He wanted to yell at her, tell her to leave him alone. Leave it alone. He wanted to cry, but instead he closed his eyes tightly and turned his body away from hers.  
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder, a gentle press of her palm against the cotton of his shirt. A gasp of realization left her lips, and he tensed.  
  
“I’m sorry… the accident… you were injured, weren’t you…” She puzzled it out, her voice strained. He wanted to apologize for making her so uncomfortable, so he did.  
  
“No, I’m sorry. I don’t want to dump any of my life stuff on you, farm girl,” he said tightly, voice low in an attempt to hide his emotions. Her hand was still glued to his shoulder, fingers gently petting him. She was being so _kind_. It wasn’t her fault he had so much baggage, she was just curious about his life. On second viewing, her asking about his history was rather sweet. He remembered what Jas’s therapist had said to him, about speaking openly about the crash. He sighed deeply. If he was ever going to open up, it would be to the farm girl.  
  
_‘Please,’_ he thought, throat constricting as he began to speak.  
  
“I… I was driving.”  
  
_‘Please don’t hate me…’_ he begged silently.  
  
She didn’t say a word, just looked up at him silently. Her eyes were wide with shock but she held his gaze. Her fingers were still rubbing his arm, he took that as a sign to continue.  
  
“I was driving the car, my sister was in the front, and my brother in law was in the back seat sleeping. We were on a road trip, it was the middle of the night. I…” Shane stopped, not realizing until it was too late that he was crying. He choked up, about to actually run away from her until he was engulfed in her arms, her hands pulling his neck down until his head rest on her shoulder. She was holding him, patting him gently on the back as she spoke softly.  
  
“It’s not your fault,” she assured. How could she know? She _wasn’t_ there. Shane held back a sob, he was drowning in her kindness and he wished he would just stop breathing.  
  
“It was…” he whispered into her hair. He was to blame.  
  
“It wasn’t your fault,” the farm girl said again with a confidence to her voice he couldn’t understand. She was soothing him, one of her hands stroking his hair as he cried. He didn’t deserve to be soothed.  
  
“It wasn’t your fault,” she repeated, hugging him tightly. Over and over. “Shane, it wasn’t your fault.”

She whispered into his ear, holding him. Eventually he held her back, grasping onto his salvation tightly. No one had ever said, ever implied it was his fault, but no one had ever told him it wasn’t.  
He blamed himself. He always assumed everyone else did too.  
  
Eventually he could breathe without choking and the depressive buzz of the wine was lifting. Embarrassed, he released the farm girl. She held him just a bit longer, squeezing him for a moment before finally letting go. Farm girl finished off the bottle, dried her feet, and slid her shoes back on all while he watched silently, gathering himself to apologize.  
  
They stood, both on shaky legs.  
  
“I’m…” Shane began, but was cut off.  
  
“Walk me home?” the farm girl asked, eyes glittering in the moonlight in a way he hadn’t anticipated. She had been crying too, silently, as she comforted him. He agreed silently with a nod, and walked beside her all the way to her cabin. Finally they reached her porch, and the farm girl stood in her doorway looking at him with a small, sad smile.  
  
“Shane,” she called gently. “To everyone you let near, you bring happiness. Don’t let your grief, your guilt, stop you from being happy too.”

Before he could reply, she smiled and said, “Goodnight, Shane.” The farm girl disappeared inside her cabin, the door shutting with a soft click.  
  
In his bed that night Shane imagined a life where he could be happy like the farm girl suggested, a life spent making people happy and letting himself be happy in return. In the dark, Shane felt around for his Joja Mart hoodie, extracting the crumpled shopping list. With the dim light of the stars shining through his window, he saw his next target: Bathhouse Soap.  
  
He wanted a happy life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting back into the swing of writing has been difficult for me, but I'm motivated! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Please leave a comment with your thoughts. The fourth chapter should be finished within the next week. Until then ~ Vik


	4. Magic Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an attempt to gather the next item for the bundle, Shane finds out some important gossip that drastically alters his plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, I knocked this one out faster than I anticipated. Rather than sitting on it for a few weeks I figured, why not post it now? 
> 
> Enjoy!

It was Sunday, Shane’s only real day off. Weekdays he worked double shifts, Saturday he worked the mornings, but Sunday was his day. Often Shane would spend his time catching up with his niece, caring for his chickens, even relaxing with a beer and playing some video games. Instead, he was trekking across town to an old, creepy bathhouse he hadn’t even heard of until the bundle appeared in his life. That morning he had asked Marnie about it, and she had explained the wonders of the bathhouse steam, how it was incredibly rejuvenating. Apparently, he was the last one to know about this Pelican Town wonder, which was par for the course. When he got to the mountains and saw said bathhouse he didn’t know quite what to think. It was dilapidated, the grounds around it covered in weeds and debris. Behind the bathhouse he heard the shrill screech of the train go by. Cringing, Shane entered and immediately the smell of stale water hit his nose. He reluctantly followed it into the men’s changing room where it only got worse and more complex, the smells of mold, sweat, and something indefinably nasty mingling together. His sneaker landed on tile, splashing in a small puddle of murky bathwater.  
  
“Crap!” Shane swore, feeling the water soaking through the canvas of his shoe and into his sock. Glancing around he located a stool and sat, methodically removing his shoes and socks, then his shirt and Joja hoodie with a groan. He held up the tattered blue hoodie with a grimace.  
  
“If I get this mangy thing wet I won’t be able to wear it to work. By that point I might as well not even show up.” With an eye roll he tossed his belongings into an empty locker, nose wrinkling as he both saw and smelt the balled-up swim trunks in the locker next to his. He was disgusting, but thankfully not as gross as whoever it was that left their dirty drawers at the bathhouse. Shane looked down at himself and sighed. His body wasn’t what it used to be, but the only one to blame for that was himself really. Shaking his dark hair from his face Shane slowly made his way into the bath, being careful not to slip on the wet tile as he descended the stairs.

‘ _I can't believe I'm doing this_ ,’ Shane thought, crossing his arms over his bare chest. He felt naked without his crappy hoodie but he couldn’t go back for it now.

_‘All I have to do is take a bar of soap for the bundle. How hard is that?_

_Are those voices?’_

Shane stopped short, slipping a little on the slick floor mere inches from the end of the hallway that lead into the bath. He heard giggling coming from the women's side of the bath and groaned in annoyance, deciding against charging in head first. Getting one of the village ladies in a snit because he saw them in their baiting suits was the last thing he needed right now. The giggling increased and he couldn't help his curiosity. Shane peered around the corner and his jaw dropped in surprise.

Sitting in and around the bath were all the village girls, Abigail, Penny, Maru, Haley, Leah, Emily, and the farm girl all in their swim suits. They sat huddled together, giggling and chatting like a bunch of immature high schoolers. To be fair, Abigail and Haley are high schoolers... Shane cringed as his eyes passed over them completely. Farm girl sat close with Emily who had donned a silly tricolor Olympic style swim suit. But oh, farm girl looked radiant. She sat on the edge of the bath, her feet swinging in and out of the water. Her hair was damp and pulled behind her ears, and her cheeks were rosy from the steam. She was wearing a modest suit, a two piece with a skirt, but Yoba did her legs look long and gorgeous, tanned and muscular from farming all day in shorts. Shane zoned out looking at her for a moment before their conversation grabbed his attention back.

 

"So..." Haley started, looking mischievous. "Whose got the hots for who?" All the girls starting giggling anew, Emily almost guffawing.

"Oh Haley, don't just ask people that!" she admonished her younger sister.

"But now that you mention it... Leah, who do you like?" Emily smiled with a knowing look in Leah's direction. Leah colored a little but answered briskly.

"It's old news that I've been seeing Elliott on and off. He's... Really sweet. Very dedicated to his novel. How about you Penny?" Leah redirected the conversation like a professional as she sunk down into the hot spa water.

"Yes Penny, who's on your mind lately?" Emily's eyes shone with a greed for gossips rivaling that of Morris's actual greed, Shane was impressed and slightly disturbed but kept eavesdropping no matter how creepy it made him seem.

Penny smiled shyly, but Haley cut in before she could answer.

"It better not be Alex, Penny. Kay?" Haley crossed her arms over her cleavage and huffed a breath as her eyes narrowed in the girl’s direction. Penny's expression was meek. The farm girl’s laughter interrupted Hayley's jealous glare, her eyes glittering with mirth as she slapped her wet knee.

"So, you like Alex, Haley?" she finally asked through her giggled.

Haley only rolled her eyes at her. "Uh duh, who wouldn't?"

"Well I don't," Abigail interjected sourly. "He's _really_ not my type."

Emily swam closer to Abigail and perched herself on the ledge of the bath.

"And what is, Abigail? Sandy blonde and skater or dark, brooding, and tech savvy?" Abigail's eyebrows rose at the implication, and Penny looked genuinely nervous.

"I've always been into the mysterious types..." Abigail trailed off, her eyes becoming distant as she apparently thought of Sebastian. Penny breathed an almost indiscernible sigh of relief at that and her smile returned.

"You and Sebastian have been so close for years. You two would make a great couple." Penny remarked sweetly. Abigail quickly came out of her day dream and smirked at Penny's lack of subtlety.

"Thanks Penny. And you know... Sam talks about you a lot. Like all the time."

Penny's expression became so obviously hopeful it was almost comical. "Really?"

"Oh yeah," farm girl added. "I've heard him talk about you as well. Seems like he's quite taken with you and he always mentions how good you are with Vince."

"Wow, how romantic!" Emily squealed, clapping her hands together.

"And I know for a fact Maru has a crush!" she added in a sing song voice. Maru's face became beet red under the scrutiny of her friends.

"I...! Well... Yes..."

"Oh my god, who is it?" It seemed Haley was as hungry for gossip as her sister.

"I think I know who..." Farm girl smirked at Maru, nudging her in a playful manner.

"Okay... I do like someone... Well it's silly to not to say it, so I'll just say it. Doctor Harvey... He's just so intelligent and great to talk to."

Hayley's interest was lost at that revelation. "Wow, talk about old."

Maru perked up and took to the defensive. "He's not actually that old, he's only been out of medical school for 6 years and he's so sweet." 

Penny smiled and patted Maru on the shoulder. "I think it's great, Maru."

"Thanks Penny." Maru's passion simmered down at the compliment.

Emily's gaze shifted over the girls and landed on her next victim. "That just leaves one person... So spill!" She pointed at the farm girl.

Shane felt a rock fall to the bottom of his stomach and he thought he might vomit as he watched the farm girls’ eyes grow wide at being put on the spot.

‘ _Oh god, I should leave. Leave right now and spare yourself the misery, Shane_!’

"Well... There is someone..." the farm girl started slowly. If it was possible, Shane felt even more nauseous than on a bad hangover day and his body felt both hot and cold, which should have been impossible in a sauna.

"Tell us!" Leah cackled from across the group.

"Yeah, like who else even is there in this town?" Haley responded blandly, inspecting her manicure. Her eyes suddenly shot up. "Don't tell me it's the mayor!" She let out a high-pitched giggle. Soon everyone was laughing, even farm girl had a tear in her eye.

"No, not the mayor. Pretty sure he's already taken anyhow."

‘ _How'd farm girl find out about that?_ ’ Shane thought. His mind quieted as she continued.

"But I do like someone... Ya'll will think I'm silly, but..."

_‘Yoba, farm girl, just say it. Put me out of my misery. Break my heart.’_

"Shane...!" she squeaked out, her cheeks turning cherry red from her confession.

 _‘Oh Yoba...!’_ Shane's legs felt weak as he held onto the wall for support.

"Snore." Haley's eyes returned to her nails, meanwhile the other girls were going nuts with the news.

"I knew it!" Emily proclaimed, her first pumping in the air. "You've so got the hots for the saloon's favorite customer."

"That's a clever way to say drunk," Abigail snarked, her lips pursed with displeasure.

Penny looked at the farm girl with a concerned expression. "Isn't he kind of... mean though?" The farm girl didn't look at all rattled. Her secretive little smile had Shane's stomach doing back flips.

"He can be at first... But to me it didn't seem like anyone took the time to get to know him, you girls included. He's really a great guy once you get to know him." Her smile broadened as she continued, and Shane's eyes were stinging with what totally weren't tears.

"He's so good with Jas, and even though he'd be happier not to work at that awful Joja Mart he presses on so he can save for her future."

Abigail had the decency to look ashamed of her earlier comment, and Leah looked completely gob smacked. "Aw, what a guy! Providing for his niece like that."

"I know..." farm girl bit her lip and continued. "And under all that scruff is a seriously sexy jaw line..." Her voice drifted off as she imagined him in her head. Shane's hand shakily came up to his face and rubbed at his stubble.

 _‘I've_ got _to shave...’_

"I'm sure he's very muscular from lifting boxes and crates all day." Maru added in a matter of fact voice. Leah's eyes glazed over at the suggestion. "Oh, now that's a good point."  

"Don't even think about it, he's mine." Farm girl playfully pushed Leah out of her trance. “And you’re not wrong about his muscles, I saw him shirtless and he was pretty toned.” She smirked. The girls giggled at her admission.

"If he's yours, why haven't you gotten him a bouquet yet?" Emily asked, cutting through the chatter about Shane’s body.

The farm girl sighed and looked dejectedly at her hands folded in her lap.

"I've been thinking about it. A lot actually... But I guess I've been hoping he would catch on and give me one. I'm a bit of a traditionalist I guess," she sighed wistfully.

"I hear you..." Leah agreed. "I wish Elliott would finish his novel already and get the message that I'm serious about him."  
  
"Getting a bouquet would be so romantic..." Emily breathed dreamily.

  
Shane got feeling back in his legs finally and started to back slowly out of the bath. Screw the soap, he knew what he had to do.

 

 

 

      ______________________________

 

 

 

 

"So..." Pierre breached the silence as he carefully wrapped the beautiful bouquet in paper. "Who's the lucky lady Shane? Or is it a lucky gent?"

‘And let the gossiping commence...’ Shane thought frustratedly as he slapped his money down into the counter.

"Don't be a busybody, Pierre," he mumbled to the shopkeeper, shoving his hands deep inside his hoodie pockets.

"I'll probably hear the scoop from Marnie soon enough anyhow!" Pierre even had the audacity to wink as he handed over the wrapped bouquet. Shane grabbed the flowers and spun on his heel, but a sudden piercing thought hit him so he backtracked to the counter.

"Could I have a receipt?" His foot was tapping on the tile floor of the shop impatiently. If he was going through with this he needed to try and complete the damn bundle.

 

Pierre looked at Shane as if he had just sprouted two extra heads.

 

"A receipt? But you used to always complain about me giving you ones before."

 

"Yeah well, I need one now."

 

"You know Shane," Pierre chuckled, printing out the receipt. "I don't do refunds for fresh products so, if it doesn't work out..." His joke died in his throat as he looked up into Shane's death glare.

 

"Tough crowd..." Pierre muttered as he handed over the slip of paper.

 

"Thanks..." Shane said only once he was halfway through the door.

Three down, three to go.

 

 

      ______________________________  
  
  


  
The treads of Shane’s sneakers slid slightly on the recently cleaned tile of Joja Mart, a few feet away Sam was lazily mopping, headphones blasting some new tune. Sam looked up as Shane came into the store, a confused expression crossing his face.  
  
“Why you here on Sunday, man?” Sam called after Shane, nearly yelling to hear himself over his own music. Shane scoffed at the teens antics and shrugged unhelpfully in reply. He quickened his pace, passing by the weary looking cashier he never bothered to speak with, the overly pleased looking Mr. Joja cardboard cut-out he hated, he wouldn’t miss this. Shane reached Morris’ office door, rapping on the wood with haste. The sooner this was over the better.  
  
Morris answered with only a shout of “Enter!”. Shane rolled his eyes, Morris was such a drama queen.  
  
Inside the office was the awful and ever lingering scent of the cheap cologne Morris wore constantly.  The weasel himself was sitting at his desk, feet propped up like he was the king of his castle.  
  
“Shane! You’re in on a Sunday? Wonderful, I need you to…” Morris didn’t get to finish his order as Shane cleared the distance between the door and the desk and with a smirk he slammed his resignation letter down onto the tabletop. A resounding rattle came from his satisfying, albeit showy, resignation which was strong enough to knock Morris’ feet off onto the floor.  
  
Morris scowled, standing and pulling down his vest with an agitated flip of his hair. “What… What is the meaning of this?”  
  
“It’s my resignation letter,” Shane stated simply, grinning as he saw terror flash across Morris’ face. “I’m giving you my two-week notice.” Morris sputtered indignantly, grabbing the paperwork and shuffling through it with wide eyes.  
  
“No, no, you can’t quit!” Morris claimed indignantly, panic causing his voice to crack. Shane would have laughed if he didn’t still need to come into work for the next couple of weeks.  
  
“Yeah, actually, I can.” Shane crossed his arms and eyed the shiny manager badge sitting on a bookshelf in the office as Morris ranted to himself. It was just lying there connected to a horrible gridball teams lanyard, just asking to be swiped and dropped in his bundle. With a shake of his head he put the idea to rest, for now at least. With Morris right in front of him he couldn’t justify trying to nab the thing.  
  
‘I’ll have to come back for it once the two weeks are over.’ Shane mused. Morris slapped the papers against his other hand like an angry grade school teacher, snapping Shane out of his thoughts and back to the moment at hand.  
  
“Well!” Morris exclaimed. “This is unacceptable, you have a responsibility Shane. Joja Corp. is a family, and you cannot simply LEAVE a family! You need to grow up and stop slacking off!” Shane’s good humor left, all the levity sucked out the window like oxygen. He stepped forward and with an intensity that frightened Morris just a bit as he pointed to his manager.  
  
“No, Morris, you need to grow up. I am not beholden to you, or to this company. I worked my ass off day and night, wore my crappy uniform, and collected my meager paycheck. Now I choose not to. It’s not my responsibility to deal with what that means for Joja Mart, and honestly, I doubt Joja Corp. is hurting for employees. Regardless, it’s. Not. My. Problem.” With every jab of his finger he punctuated his statement, finally breathing out a long sigh to release his tension. “I won’t fight over this. I’ll come in to work as usual for the next two weeks, and that’s it. End of discussion.” Shane turned on his heel and walked out of the office feeling 50 pounds lighter, a smile lighting his face. He was free! Jobless, but free.  
Sam gawked at him as he stepped chipperly out of the store. He had never seen Shane look… happy before. From where Shane had come Morris also appeared, looking red in the face and almost wild. Morris pulled out his cell phone and dialed angrily, and when the other end finally picked up he spoke lowly, a smile slowly curling his lips.  
  
“Weird.” Sam commented to no one, going back to his work.

  
  
  
      ______________________________

 

 

 

"C-could I buy you a round, Shane?" the farm girl asked shyly as she slid into the other side of his booth, her hair falling into her face a little as she smiled coquettishly.

‘ _Oh god, she's flirting with me. She's been flirting with me this whole time?_ ’

"Uh..." his mind was blanking. He couldn't let her just buy him a round. He needed to show her he was boyfriend material. What did boyfriends do again? Oh yeah!

"How about I buy you a drink, farmer?" Shane asked tentatively, his typically gruff voice even lower in cadence. The farmer smiled wider at the suggestion.

"That's sweet, but you don't have to." Her smile turned down a bit in what appeared to be nervousness. Why wouldn't she want you to buy her a beer?

‘C _ause you're poor. Damn.’_

"No, I insist." He pressed, his voice turning a bit hard, and Farm girl seemed to notice. Shane motioned silently across the saloon to Emily, two fingers in a wave towards himself and the farm girl from where they were at the far booth. Emily nodded with a sly grin, beginning to pour their drinks. He couldn’t let the farm girl worry about him, especially not about his finances. Although he was in a tight spot perpetually, even more so now, he wanted to show her he was capable.

"H-hey, Shane?" farm girl interjected a little shyly.

She wasn’t usually so meek. "Yeah?" His voice was still a bit rough.

"Well... I heard something silly from Josie... something Pierre told her..." the farm girl let her sentence hang, looking at Shane with wide, expectant eyes.

‘Oh crap.’ 

"About that..." Shane's face got a little warm as he looked around the saloon, at anything other than farm girls sparkling eyes. Emily chose that perfect moment to bring their round to the table, nosily lingering.

"Thank you, Emily." farm girl said, shooing her from the booth with a wave. Emily slowly shuffled away, clearly still trying to listen in.

Shane cleared his throat and continued. "Yeah, I might have something to ask you." He muttered lowly, as if to prevent anyone from hearing him. Farm girl sat forward in her seat and pressed up against the table. Shane's eyes finally turned to farm girl, briefly admiring the way her overall strap slid down one shoulder as she leaned forward before his eyes darted up to her wide-eyed face.

"Yes? Ask me anything, Shane." Her tone was so serious and open, it warmed his cold heart a little.

‘And I bet she would answer any question, too,’ Shane imagined. He wanted to give her the bouquet, to ask her to be with him, but he couldn’t. The bouquet he had purchased was sitting in his bedroom in a vase of water, just waiting for the right moment. For Shane, surrounded by all these nosy villagers, this just wasn’t the moment. Instead, he was going to broach a topic he never imagined he would.

"I know you go mining down in that cave by the falls." His voice was low, and a little tense. Farm girl’s expression went from anticipation to a small scowl.

"So?" She sat back, arms crossed over her chest. "So, what if I do?" Shane was taken aback, he hadn’t expected the farm girl to be so defensive about it. He had seen her some nights coming back from the hills with bags of treasure, looking a bit worse for wear.

"So, take me with you. I have a baseball bat." Shane sat forward, lowering his voice even more.

"W...why would you need that?" She faltered, right eye twitching a little.

"Isn't it dangerous down there? With all the..." Shane motioned for her to sit forward again, so she did, but hesitantly. Once his lips were close to her ear, he spoke in a whisper. "Monsters?" She processed his statement, then looked shocked.

"Shane! I thought you didn't believe in that stuff..." she whispered back hurriedly.

"I don't... well I didn't, but we’ve all seen the bulletin notices for monster slaying, and the things I’ve seen lately just aren’t adding up unless you consider magic. I need to go down in the mine for, well for something, and I want to go with you. You've been down before, you know what to expect." His hands were flat on the table, his expression pleading. Farm girl looked conflicted, brows scrunched together cutely.

"But Shane... you don't know what to expect." She gripped his shoulder in a kind but worried manner, thumb making small circles. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Shane sighed heavily, leaning slight in to her hand. Her touching him was becoming a habit, and he didn’t mind it at all. "I used to box, and I'm good on my feet. Plus, won't there be like, treasure and stuff down there?" Farm girl nodded hesitantly.

"Good. I'll need it since I just quit working at Joja Mart." Butterflies fluttered around in Shane's stomach as he finally admitted what he did to someone, especially the girl he was doing this for. Her hand tightened on his shoulder as her face lit up with joy.

"You did?!" She almost jumped out of the booth in excitement, several heads in the saloon turning to give them curious glances. Shane couldn't help the small smile, more of a smirk really, from playing on his lips. It was a good feeling to finally say it out loud.

"Calm down, farm girl." He motioned for her to sit back down, farm girl quickly sitting back in the booth with a little thump. "Yes. That's the plan, I quit Joja and now I need money from somewhere else," Shane said finally. It was true he would need the income from finding rare items to sustain himself and Jas, but he couldn’t admit to needing slimes just yet.

"Oh Shane!" Farm girl exclaimed. He shushed her as she again caught everyone's attention, and she complied by finally lowering her voice appropriately. "Anything to get you out of that corporate hell! We should start off first thing in the morning, but oh! You work all day, don’t you? Well why don’t we head down there tomorrow evening. Want to meet me at my place after you’re done?”

Shane wondered how early he could skip out on work. "Yeah, I can come over then."

Farm girl clasped his hands tightly and grinned eagerly. "I'm gonna head home and gather supplies for us both, ok? I'll see you tomorrow, Shane!"

She stood up quickly, downed her beer and headed out with a small wave in his direction.

His chest felt weird, he noticed. All tight and warm. He looked forward to when he could finally take her to the saloon properly on a date.

Emily came bustling over to the booth with a sly smile as she slowly cleaned up the farm girls’ glass. "So?" She asked, raising her eyebrows in a thinly veiled suggestion.

"So, what? We had a drink, as usual." He threw down the money for both beers, trying not to wince as he shed his last 600g.

He hastily left the saloon, heading home for a good night’s rest. Shane had no idea what awaited him the next day, but he was excited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment with your thoughts. Comments motivate me so much.  
> Until next time ~ Vik


	5. Magic Geodes

Marnie stood in her kitchen preparing breakfast bright and early Monday morning. Behind her Jas was sitting down at the table coloring, happily chatting about the silly adventures she had gotten up to the previous day. As the coffee machine beeped she prepared herself to holler up for her nephew. Marnie didn’t know what he had gotten up to the other day but if it was anything like his usual weekends he probably had a horrible hangover. She shook her head, flipping a pancake in the skillet like an expert chef. He needed to get his life together.  
  
“Sh…” Marnie began to shout, but was cut off as Shane stepped into the kitchen as if by magic with a smile on his face. She did a double take as he made his way to Jas, giving her an affectionate pat on the head. He was… awake… at 6 AM. He was showered, and apparently even took the time to shave his perpetual scruff. Bright eyed and humming under his breath he began to pour himself coffee.  
  
“Good morning, Aunt Marnie,” he greeted her as he measured out his preferred amount of sugar into his mug. Marnie’s mouth gaped open in surprise, her hands moving as if on auto-pilot to continue cooking. She wondered what could bring about such a change in her often despondent nephew, when she remembered some gossip she heard the previous night. Lewis had mentioned that Josie had told Haley who had said to Emily that Pierre had recently sold a bouquet to Shane. At the time she had laughed it off, but now… it all made sense. Her surprised expression morphed into a pleased grin as she served Jas a plate of blueberry pancakes.  
  
“Morning, Shane. You seem happy today!” she beamed at her nephew. If he was finally pursuing the farm girl then her little pushing during dinner wouldn’t have been for naught. She looked him over with a surprised smile. “And you’re wearing jeans!”  
  
“You say that like I’ve never worn them before, Marnie.” Shane was smiling too, eyeing the stacks of pancakes hungrily. “Jeez, I wish I had time for pancakes but I have to run to work.”  
Marnie set the skillet off the burner for a moment then made her way to the bread box.  
  
“I imagined you wouldn’t, so last night I made these pumpkin muffins. I hate to see you skipping breakfast so often, so take one, won’t you?" Marnie begged, hoping her warm smile and delicious smelling muffins would win over her picky morning eater of a nephew. Without hesitation Shane took one, downed his coffee, then set the mug into the sink.  
  
“Thanks, I appreciate it. See you all late, okay?” He patted Jaz on the shoulder goodbye. “I’m going to be working all tonight with the farmer.”  
  
Marnie shook her head in confusion as Shane left the ranch house whistling, actually whistling! Jaz looked up from her pancakes. “Wow, Uncle Shane is happy,” she commented, mouth stuffed with breakfast.  
  
“Sure seems like it, hon.” Marnie served Jaz a few more pancakes, happy to know her intuition was right.  
  
  
  
_Later at Joja Mart._  
  
  
Shane had stormed out of his office yesterday morning like he was proud of being a quitter. Morris was absolutely livid, he had never in his 14 years of being a Joja manager been treated so poorly by an employee. He sat in his wheelie desk chair peering out of the window in his office with a sneer. The blinds concealed him from Shane's vision, that turncoat, who had just arrived (on time, drat!) for work. The plastic phone felt heavy in his hand, which was quickly falling asleep. He had been on hold with corporate all morning trying to track down the right person in the Contracts Department to help him with his little 'problem'. Yesterday someone from Hiring and Firing had promised him there would be a way to either keep Shane on or screw him hard, so here Morris sat. His little problem was in uniform, damn him, and was finishing what looked like a homemade muffin. Morris watched with a sneer as Shane removed the wrapper and tossed it towards the open trash can.

 

"Please let it land outside the can, anything so I can write him up!" Morris whined. In his ear the Joja Corporate theme played on repeat. Shane not only landed the muffin wrapper in the bin, but also bent to pick up a stray soda can. Tossing it into the recycling he brushed his hands on his pants and entered the store.

 

"Damn that... that..." Morris couldn't get his thoughts straight. Before he could think of anything colorful to call his most recent fleeing employee the line finally connected, the Joja theme cutting off harshly.

 

"This is Rick from Contracts, how can I help you?" the other line said in a slightly robotic tone. Morris sputtered, surprised at being connected at all, and nearly dropped the phone before he could bring it all the way to his ear.

 

"Thank Yoba, this is Andrew Morris. I'm the manager of Pelican Town Joja Mart. My code is 261 alpha foxtrot 8. I'm having a problem with an employee who has recently given his two-week notice," he ranted quietly, quickly running over to his door and locking it. The cord of the phone wrapped itself around his desk lamp as he went. When Morris realized he swore, then began the delicate dance of disentangling it.

 

"Ah I see here. Employee designation 002, 003, or 004?" Rick asked emotionlessly.

 

"Employee 002." Morris said, gracefully stepping around his desk as he slowly unraveled the springy cord from his favorite lamp. He could hear the lazy clacking of keys on the other end and rolled his eyes. Corporate layabouts.

 

"Well there seems to be a problem with his contract." Rick finally said, a slight color of satisfaction in his warbled voice. Morris stopped, one hand on the lamp and the other still clutching a handful of cord. The phone was cradled between his ear and shoulder as a wide grin cracked his face, listening intently as Rick explained the details.

 

"Oh, I see," Morris nearly giggled in excitement. "That is a problem... for him..."  
  
  
Outside on the floor of Joja Mart, Shane began the tedious job of unloading pallets of goods from the back and into their respective aisles. Usually this is when his day went into the crapper, the utter monotony dragging him into a familiar low. Today Shane felt light on his feet, happy. He gave a polite nod to Sam who was here oddly early, trekking muddy footprints all over the floors he would undoubtedly have to clean up later.  
  
“Hey man,” Sam greeted him, waving awkwardly. “I uh… heard from Morris you’re quitting?”  
  
Shane nodded, grabbing the handle of the pallet jack and wheeling it further down the aisle. “Yeah, he told you?” Sam chuckled, leaning against a shelf as he unslung his backpack from his shoulders.  
  
“Not in so many words, but I did catch him ranting about you jumping ship or whatever.” Sam twisted the strap of his backpack in his hands, looking around for Morris. “But listen, I thought you should know that Morris was on the phone with corporate yesterday.” His voice was grave. Shane stopped unpacking the pallet with a sigh.  
  
“Thanks for the concern, Sam. I bet it was just Morris looking for my replacement. Speaking of, make sure you don’t accept if Morris offers you this job,” Shane said mock-seriously. The blonde coughed up a laugh, almost dropping his bag.  
  
“No way! You’re even more miserable than I am. No offense.” Sam put his hands up to shield himself with a smile on his face.  
  
“None taken.” And Shane really didn’t take any offense. This was the longest conversation he’d had with his coworker. It was… nice. After realizing he had messed up the floors, Sam begged off to begin his shift before Morris had a cow, and Shane slipped into daydream land. Methodically packing shelves and moving pallets, Shane imagined what his life would be like after the bundle. It promised happiness, but what would that look like? Would he and the farmer get together? Would he find another job? He tried but couldn’t imagine either of those things. Every time he tried it just seemed… too fanciful. Too unreal. Some other happy thoughts occurred to him though. Jaz going off to college to study fashion or art, smiling happily as she drove away in her own car. Marnie would win the Stardew Valley Fair showcase, and that no good Mayor would finally propose to her. Shane smiled. That would definitely make him happy.  
  
From the other end of the store Morris twirled his Manager badge lanyard as he hummed a nonsensical tune. He had Shane in his line of vision, just watching the jerk stack boxes on the shelves. Morris smirked, in a few days the paperwork would come through from Corporate and Shane would get his…  
  
  
  
_________________________________  


Shane stood on the small covered porch of the farm girls’ cottage in the faint light of dawn. His hoodie was bundled tightly around him, and at his side was his steel baseball clutched tightly in his hand. He had walked onto her property just as the sun began to set, and Yoba, was it beautiful. Her touch was in every detail, every plant and every post of wood. Delicate carvings on the chicken coop door, hand-crafted jolly scarecrows, tiny and adorable signs labeling every herb, fruit, and vegetable. Shane couldn’t help but admire her dedication, especially only having been at it for less than a year. He wondered if being a good farmer was in her blood, he’d heard stories of her grandfather from other townspeople, though he wouldn’t be surprised if it was just all skill.

After a swift knock on the door, the wonderful farmer appeared looking quite different from usual. Instead of her comfy overalls and sneakers she was wearing dark clothing and what appeared to be steel toed purple boots. On her hip a wicked looking sword was sheathed, and her back held an empty rucksack. He felt woefully underprepared in his ratty hoodie, the steel baseball bat at his side looked much less intimidating next to the farm girls’ weapon.  
  
“Shane!” She smiled widely. “I’m glad you’re finally here. We have so much to go over.” With a none to gentle grasp she pulled him inside the farm house, the door slamming shut behind him. She stopped briefly, looking him over with a small smile.  
  
“You look… good.” The compliment zinged through him as her eyes lingered on his clean-shaven face, then on his jeans. She then dragged him into her small kitchen and plopped him down in a handmade looking dining chair. Shane’s head was spinning, from the familiar scent of her apple perfume to the adorable orange cat lazily lying next to the fireplace, the oddly large collection of hats on the wall to the stack of dusty looking library books. She was so weird, so strange, so wonderful. He couldn’t help but smile as her cat woke up suddenly, gave him an odd look, then went back to sleep with a soft meow. He turned to look at the farmer noticing that she had sprawled what looked like hand drawn maps on the round table. She smoothed one out, pointing with her gloved finger at something on the paper.  
  
“This is a rough representation of the first areas in the mines. You’ll have to keep on your toes though, because it’s always a little different.” She indicated her point by unfolding the paper, showing many chamber shapes and configurations. Shane shook his head, this looked complicated.  
  
“And there will be monster… things?” he asked tentatively. She nodded, pulled a small book out from her pocket and handed it to Shane. Opening the leather cover he found sketches of various fantastical looking creatures, names written above them.  
  
“Bats, rock crabs, slimes…” Shane listed them, but staring intently at the slime. It appeared globby and weird, but he supposed he could try and collect some. “So what color are these slimes? Red?” He hoped to Yoba they were usually red.  
The farm girl took her book back and slid it into her pocket with a chuckle.  
  
“No, all slimes look kind of like that. We’re probably only going to see green ones; the red ones are much farther down and I’m not sure you’re ready for them yet.” Shane lowered his head in disappointment. Was he really that weak? He looked back up at the farm girl, decked out and preparing like a pro. Yeah, he must be.  
  
“Guess I’ll just have to get ready.” Shane stood, trying to emulate her confidence. “My guess is the farther down the more likely we are to find valuables.”  
  
“Astute guess, you’re right. It’ll take some time to get there but we will have you packing some extra cash in no time.” They began to collect the maps, and the farmer urged Shane to take some energy drinks from her fridge.  
  
“Seriously, you can get super easily tired.” She had promised, so he grabbed a few and stuffed them in his old backpack. As they neared the door the farm girl placed her hand on his shoulder.  
  
“Shane… just remember, this isn’t a full-time job sort of thing. This is a ‘oh crap, I have no money’ sort of thing. Every time you go into the mines you put yourself in danger.” Her voice was grave and intense, and it was then that Shane noticed a scar on her neck dipping below the collar of her shirt. She noticed his eyes lingering and blushed deeply.  
  
“Before you ask, this _was_ from the mines.” She ran a finger over the raised scar. “So be cautious and stick with me. Alright?” Her eyebrows raised, waiting for him to respond. Shane ducked his head, looking away from her intense eye contact to hide his own blush.  
  
“Yeah alright, farm girl, I got it,” he replied gruffly.  
  
The hike from her farm house to the cave was long and cold, the autumn nights in the valley were horribly windy. By the time they got to the mouth of the cave Shane’s nerves had gone from disturbed to frayed, but he wouldn’t show it. Or at least, he hoped he wasn’t showing just how freaked out he was. The cave was dark and damp, though a few handmade torches lit the interior. He saw a hole, a HOLE, in the ground with a ladder leading down, a chill ran up his spine imagining what awaited them below. The farm girl was beside him re-lacing her boots and smirking. Oh, she knew he was nervous.  
  
“Last chance, Shane. I could always give you a loan instead,” Farm girl chuckled, sliding her sword out of its sheath. Shane gripped his baseball bat tighter in his fist, frowning.  
  
“No way, I won’t take money from you,” he grumbled. _‘I won’t take pity from you, either.’_  
With a few practice swishes of her sword, the farm girl re-sheathed it and nodded.    
  
“I get it, don’t worry. Let’s go, follow my lead.” She stepped over to the hole and smiled a bit manically, then dropped down. “Come on, Shane!” she called from below. He followed her lead and descended the ladder, but slowly. His palms were beginning to sweat, his grip on both the ladder and baseball bat a bit sketchy. When his foot no longer found a rung he panicked, but realized he needed to drop down. Holding his breath, he let go, falling and landing on the gravely ground. Shane looked around slowly, taking in the dark stone walls, rocks and ore veins, the wet earth… Anything could jump out at him at any moment!  
  
“Yeah there probably won’t be anything worthwhile for a few levels, and definitely no monsters yet.” The farm girl strode confidently over to a rock and began chipping away at it with a masterfully crafted and heavy as hell looking pickaxe. She stopped briefly, looking over at Shane who was still standing as still as a statue under the ladder entrance. She pulled a spare, much smaller pickaxe from her belt and tossed it at his feet. It landed with a soft thud in the wet gravel. “Take that and start mining, sooner or later we should find a way down.”    
Shane grabbed the pickaxe and gave it a few experimental swings in the air, it wasn’t _too_ heavy. He was no stranger to manual labor so he took a rock near the farm girl and got to picking. By the time he was on his fourth rock he was panting, sweat beading on his brow and feeling extremely self-conscious.  
  
“You can do it Shane.” She was encouraging him, slamming through her own area of rocks with relative ease.  
  
“S-stop.” Shane gritted his teeth with embarrassment. “Your encouragement isn’t making me feel any less foolish.” His arms were already starting to smart.  
  
“You can do it!” She called out cheekily. Shane growled in frustration and slammed the pickaxe down, finally breaking through. Below was another hole, leading further down. He clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a weird giggle that was bubbling out to the surface. The farmer came over to Shane and clapped him on the back.  
  
“Nice work. This is only the beginning, though.” With a chuckle she dropped down, easily landing on her feet. This time Shane followed closely behind, immediately getting to work. Lower and lower they went; each time Shane became slightly less terrified and more confident. He was getting a hell of a workout. Another rock cracked, and inside he found two small bumpy stones. He picked them up, examining them curiously. They looked like trash, if he was being honest, but it was better to be safe than sorry.  
  
“Hey farmer,” Shane called. She stopped her work and made her way over. “What are these? If anything.” He held the rocks up, and the farmer took one.  
  
“Geodes! Nice find, not bad for only an hour or so of work.” She grinned, tossing it back to him. Shane groaned, shoving them into his pack.  
  
“We’ve only been working an hour? It feels like it’s been days.” Shane took a second to wipe the sweat off of his forehead when suddenly the farmer advanced on him with a gleam in her eye he had never seen. She whipped her sword out and stuck with precision, right at his head.  
  
“Yoba!” he yelled, ducking for cover. He heard the whoosh of the sharp blade cut through the air and then…  
  
“EEEK” a shrill noise then a dark creature landed in front of him on the ground. He looked up with shock to see the farm girl stowing her blade looking a bit sheepish.  
  
“Sorry, Shane, but the bat was going to attack you.” She cringed a bit, kicking the thing away from him with her purple boots. As it rolled over he noticed it wasn’t a normal looking bat, not at all. It was much larger and angrier looking, fangs ready to strike. He shivered.  
  
“No, no, that’s fine. Yoba though, remind me not to ever get on your bad side,” Shane chuckled nervously, getting to his feet. “You make one terrifying picture with a sword.” The farm girl dusted him off with a pleased expression and they continued. More mining, more descending, more geodes. After a few hours he was losing the high of his excitement. _‘I thought there would have been something worthwhile down here.’_ Shane thought irritably. He walked some distance away from the farm girl and began mining, looking for yet another stupid ladder down when he saw a very shiny looking crystal sticking out from the wall. He wasn’t sure how much money crystals like this were worth but he had heard Emily rant about how much of her paycheck she spent on the things. With a grin he stepped over to the crystal and began gently tapping the sharp edge of his pick at the base of it. With each little cut the crystal became looser, but it was taking quite some time. He felt droplets of moisture from the cavern drip onto his leg and grumbled.  
  
“This thing better be worth it.” Tap tap tap, it was showing signs of finally breaking free. His foot now felt horrible wet, was he standing in a puddle? Shane looked down and to his horror his entire left foot was covered in green slime. “Ew, what?” he cringed, shaking his foot. To his horror the slime rotated on his foot and looked at him with large red eyes and suddenly the skin on his leg began to burn. He screamed, kicking his leg frantically until the thing was dislodged from his body. Somewhere far off he heard the farm girl call and ask if he was alright but who knew if she would be able to find him in time. He grabbed his baseball bat off the ground and yelled again, this time to bolster his morale as he swung at the slime.  
  
“Ahhhhhh!” He slammed the bat over and over into the slime, but it wouldn’t die! His leg was still burning and he was running out of steam. From around a corner the farm girl ran with her sword out.  
  
“Shane! Are you okay?” She looked down at his attacker and to his surprise she started laughing.  
  
“Farmer, this is serious!” He swung his bat again, hitting the impervious slime. She wouldn’t stop laughing, slapping her knee with gusto. Finally, she breathed.  
  
“Shane, it’s dead already, look!” she cackled. “You got it, you can stop beating it’s dead slime now.”  
  
Shane looked back down at the slime and realized she was right.  
  
“How long do you think I was just hitting a trail of inanimate slime?” Shane asked, a blush creeping up his neck. The farmer patted him fondly on the shoulder, her giggles dying down.  
  
“Too long, but you got it!” She grabbed an empty jar and scooped up the jelly, causing Shane to feel mildly nauseated. “Here.” She handed it to him. “This is worth a little as it is. Honestly, I think we should call it a night. You have that crystal, and over ten geodes. Who knows what’s inside them. We can come back whenever you’re ready and work more.”  
  
Shane couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that they were done, he was hoping for a big find, and he was really enjoying spending time with the farmer, but she was right. He was getting horribly sore and tired. He followed the farmer through the cave as she spoke.  
  
“Tomorrow we can meet at Clint’s shop. He’s a whiz at opening those things, and I’m sure he’ll buy them off of you too,” she assured. “And listen, I’m so proud of you. I know quitting Joja is going to be a hard road but it’s the right thing. I quit a job before I came to the valley and although it was rough at first, I never regretted it.” She hefted her pack higher on her shoulders as Shane’s curiosity was piqued. Before he could ask what job she had left they neared something he did not expect, but was extremely grateful for. A mine elevator shaft, in perfect condition.  
  
“Yoba, I’m glad that’s here. I was dreading climbing all those ladders back up,” Shane laughed, leaning against the wall next to the lift. The farmer opened the door and they both nearly fell inside. She closed the door again then hit the button for the top floor. There were so many other floors, much deeper than they were right then. The farmer noticed him eyeing the buttons and explained.  
  
“This elevator can take you down deeper into the mines, but I figured we should go about it naturally so you can get used to it as we go.” Shane understood where she was coming from, but wished they could just go to the bottom floor and get all the good stuff. He took her in again, admiring her strength and skill. It was probably a good think they were starting off easy, and he was in no rush to have a scar matching the farm girls.  
   
It was raining when they finally emerged from the cave, so they hurried back to the farm girls house, all the while getting soaked. The soot and sweat washed away and was replaced with mud as they ran, and soon they were back at her home. They stood under the porch, illuminated only by the small light dangling above the door.  
  
“Why don’t I take your geodes and stuff and bring them to Clint’s? That way you can meet me straight after work,” she suggested, her eyes kind and lovely. Shane kicked himself, he had forgotten about the bouquet. He was waiting for the perfect moment to give it to her, but now seemed like it would have been nice. He emptied his backpack and gave her his finds.  
  
“Thanks for all of this… and listen…” Shane mumbled, hands shaking with trepidation as he raised one, gently cupping her cheek. “I uh…” he stuttered, blushing as he realized he’s forgotten what he was going to say. She giggled at him, placing her own hand on his.  
  
“No need to thank me, I had fun.” She leaned in, kissing him gently on the cheek, though her lips lingered longer than last time she had embraced him this way. She pulled away, her own cheeks red. “See you tomorrow.” She let go of his hand and went inside, leaving him full of warm feelings and love.

  
___________________________________________  
  
  
The next morning went similarly to the last. He woke up with his alarm, showered, shaved. He made it to breakfast and this time managed to eat with his aunt and niece, who delighted in chatting incessantly. He walked to work, enjoying seeing the colors changing on the trees as fall was in full swing.  
  
At work he immediately began giving it his all, his sore muscles only encouraging him to move faster. With every lifted box he imagined the possibility of something incredible being found in one of his geodes, and how happy he would make the farmer and his family. He could pay all his debt, maybe even finish college. A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his fantasy. He turned, smile turning into tight thin line as his eyes met Morris’s obnoxious smiling face.  
  
“Ah Shane, come to my office for a second.” Morris turned immediately and obviously expected Shane to follow. With a grumble Shane placed the produce in his hands down into the display and followed, feeling irked that his good flow had to get ruined. In the jerk’s office he stood awkwardly, watching Morris calmly sit down at his desk. Something felt off about Morris, he was much too calm for a guy who just lost one of his employees.  
  
“Sit, Shane,” Morris commanded slyly, watching with glee as Shane sat down with a grimace. Shane didn’t know what was up, but it was beginning to worry him. Maybe Sam had been onto something.  
  
“I got a call from Corporate about your contract, and it seems you won’t be leaving us for quite some time…”  
  
  
_to be continued_


End file.
